A little test
by wayofthepen
Summary: Mangaverse, oneshot. Tiring of the tedium of testing new recruits, Seras Victoria devises a faster way to weed out the weaklings. T by default


Mangaverse. Possible AU, (I think that's the term) as I have not read past volume 7.

* * *

Millennium was defeated. The catholic Iscariot army was destroyed. And London…London was almost completely reduced to rubble. A little after a month since the existence of vampires had been revealed, and the world was still reeling. What was left of the government had pulled together behind Sir Integra's leadership, and the slow process of rebuilding had begun. Fearful after millennium's diversions in other parts of the world, the other governments of the world had withdrawn into themselves, sparing little assistance, leaving England to almost completely fend for itself. While the little aid given had gone a long way, there was one thing in dreadfully short supply: soldiers. 

Hellsing needed soldiers. Even with what was left of the Wild Geese lending their expertise to train the recruits, it was slow going, compounded by the fact that many of the volunteers were civilians, angry, afraid, and looking to join if only for a chance for revenge. It didn't help in the slightest when they realized they would be taking orders from a vampire. But Captain Victoria, the vampire, looking out over one batch of pathetic recruits too many, had gone to Sir Integra with a little request. It had been granted, and now she trudged down to the newest bunch to shuffle into what had been rebuilt from headquarters.

"Attention!"

As expected, the mob merely looked around aimlessly, searching for the voice.

"I said, ATTENTION!"

Most of them finally focused on the girl in uniform looking down at them from the balcony above. Seras could only groan.

"When I say 'attention,' it means you form a line, and stand 'at attention.' Got that?"

More stares. Seras put a bullet in the ceiling, and the mass scrambled into the most ridiculous excuse for a formation she had ever seen, half of them puffing out their chests, trying to look bigger. Still out of human habit, Seras walked down the stairs instead of simply jumping over the rail. Arriving in front of the group, one eyebrow began to twitch.

"And don't forget to breathe. That's important too."

A long exhale followed, and poor attempts to look nonchalant. Seras reached up to rub one temple.

"Right. You're all here to join Hellsing. But…we train soldiers here. We kill freaks, vampires, anything that proves a threat to Queen and Country. This is **not **meals on wheels for ghouls. So before you waste our time and resources for a shot at playing vampire hunter, I'm going to put you through…a little test."

"Umm…miss…"

"Sir!"

"What?"

Seras began to glare at the man who spoke.

"When any of you sods address me, it's 'Sir,' 'Captain,' or 'Captain Victoria.' Got that?"

"Um, right…Sir!"

"What is it then?"

"Well…it's just that…didn't we already pass all the physicals and such?"

"When you're up against something that can literally break you **in****half,** it doesn't matter how many sit-ups you've done. As I said, we're training soldiers. We need people who can handle the reality of fighting **monsters**. And…I've buried a lot of friends during my time at Hellsing. Too many."

Seras turned away from the group and opened a door at the other side of the room, then walked to the far end of the hall on the other side, opening the door there. She turned around, flicking a switch that killed the lights in the main room and in the hall, leaving only the light from the inner room to shine out into the darkness. Seras looked back to the crowd and leaned against the wall, next to the door.

"Now. If you want the honor of calling yourself Hellsing soldiers, walk through this door. I won't lift a finger to stop you."

She gestured to the door she stood near, the only source of light in the darkened house. The men all looked at each other, mumbling to each other and glancing at her, then, as one, they all walked forward. Footfalls on tile became loud crunches. Those that looked down yelled in fright, and as one, they all scrambled back. The floor was covered in a thick mass of worms, beetles and insects, crawling, writhing and wrapping around each other.

Seras grinned from ear to ear. She hated bugs, but they did have their uses.

"What's wrong, **_soldiers? _** A few bugs are all it takes to scare you?"

"Wha-What the hell is this?"

"Where'd those come from?"

"Hey! Uh, Sir!"

"This would be the test."

The group focused on her from across the hall, still flinching away from the bugs.

"And if you can't handle _this,_ you have no right to call yourselves Hellsing soldiers. Hell, you can't even call yourselves men."

Glancing at her, the bugs, and each other, a few brave souls stepped up, walking cautiously towards the living carpet, but shrieking and jumping back as the bugs crawled over their legs. Seras let her head drop and prepared to write the whole bunch off when one young man stepped up from the back of the group and began noisily stomping through the bugs, crunching them underfoot and kicking up piles of them into the air. She could see the half-smile, half-grimace on his face when something morbidly funny is involved. He forced his way through, starting to gag once he was past the bugs.

"Not bad! Nice form, too."

"T-thank you, Sir!"

The man returned to trying to keep from throwing up, and one by one, the group all made it past the first hurdle. Seras made a note of how each moved through, some running, some on tiptoe, some trying to hop past, and yelping as they went. She had to stifle a laugh at the last ones.

"By the way, how you perform here determines your assignments. From squad commander, to grunt, to doormat. Next part!"

Emboldened by the relative simplicity of the first part, the mob surged forward, only to freeze in fear. In the shadows of the hell, ghouls took form, reaching, clawing, and growling at the men, who stumbled over each other while backing up. A few simply ran away. Seras laughed openly, and the men who were left stared at her in fright.

"Sweet mother of god!"

"Hmmm?"

"WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?"

"What the hell is this, _sir_."

The mob cowered, packed against each other, backing up just short of the bugs that had reappeared behind them. They stared wide-eyed at the ghouls, and at the girl leaned so relaxed next to the single source of light. Seras let out another laugh at their antics.

"What, these? Have you lot never seen shadow puppets before?"

Seras held her hands in front of the light pouring from the open door, making shapes with her hands and a few little 'grrr' sounds, giggling when she stopped. She ignored the looks she received, leaning back against the wall. A few more men tried to sneak away, but were stymied by the bugs, the sound of being trod upon announcing their attempt at cowardice. Seras continued to ignore the stares and questions, settling into place. Several minutes past, with only two men walking the small path between the illusionary ghouls reaching from the walls. She looked for the boy who had stomped through the first test. She could see the hesitation on his face, fear mixed with the desire to move forward. He looked at her, and she offered a small nod. Watching him take a breath, he pushed through the men packed around him, and began to walk the narrow path, keeping his eyes fixed solidly on the door at the end of the hall. He shuddered at the sounds of the ghouls' moans and growls, and flinched as a shadow-limb brushed his shoulder, quickening his pace at the touch. He joined the two others on the other side, dropping to his knees and gasping for breath.

But he had made it through. He persevered, half-scared out of his mind, but he had made it though. She took a closer look at him. He couldn't have been older than twenty, with short, sandy blond hair and bright blue eyes. Seras felt an odd sense of déjà vu, before she nearly burst out laughing. She saw it when she had looked closer. Under the dirty, worn overcoat, he was wearing a D-11 uniform.

"Not bad, for a kid."

"Err, thank you, sir."

"And as for the rest of you…if you don't make it through, that's fine. But don't think I won't remember those who didn't even bother trying."

A few men looked guilty, and a few looked relieved. The three that had made it through now stood just a dozen feet from the door, glancing nervously at the girl beside it, waiting for the next surprise. The first man locked his eyes on the door and strode forward with confidence in his step. He didn't make it halfway before yelling and falling back, practically whimpering in fear. The other two looked between him and Seras. They hadn't seen anything, heard anything. The second took a moment to prepare himself before walking forward, more cautiously than the last. Again, he stopped after a few steps before slowly backing up and falling against the wall, gasping for breath.

Seras could sense the young man's fear. He hadn't seen anything, but the effect on the other two had been obvious. To him, she was merely leaning against the wall quietly, her head bowed, arms crossed over her chest. In her mind's eye, she could see the tension in his muscles that could become a step forward.

"Right!"

Everyone jumped, naturally.

"Five more minutes, then I'm calling it and you see how you've measured up."

The seconds ticked by. Seras wanted to tap her foot, wiggle, something. But she was still new to these abilities, and they were difficult enough to generate without focusing on three different effects at once. So, she stood still, a part of her wanting to see how someone that was starting to remind her of herself…her old self…would handle the last challenge. She slipped into memories, that night that she died. The test was based on that night, after all. First, the night itself, and the sounds of it, the ever-present insects and their noises that drew her attention and prevented her from focusing on the real threat. Ghouls, both civilians and former teammates, out for her flesh. And finally…

The young man finally inched forward; his eyes taking in the details of what little surrounded him, looking out for any possible threats, as a good soldier should. One step, and another. He reached the point the other two men had reached, and paused. Nothing. One foot moved to step forward, when something flickered in the corner of his eye, and he made the mistake, or perhaps the right tactical decision, to focus on it.

There, projected into his mind for him alone to see, wrapped in solid darkness that moved and flowed around her like a living thing, under blond hair, two red eyes stared into his. Freed from the pleasant illusion of humanity, a small portion of what she was, the vampire-the **monster-**that was Seras Victoria, loomed over him.

He froze in total fear, his eyes wide, his heart beating faster than it had ever before, his lungs barely able to breathe. But he didn't run. Slowly, inch by inch, his legs mechanically pulling him forward, though some miracle of willpower, he fell though the open door into the light.

"Time!"

Seras flicked a switch, and in the instant the men staggered and shielded their eyes from the sudden assault, the bugs and ghouls had vanished. Motioned forward, the men, about half of what had first entered the hall, happily stumbled forward. Seras quickly grabbed the fallen man to keep him from getting trampled. One of the remaining Geese called out names and began sorting through the men at Captain Victoria's direction. Once they were all shuffling off to the real training, Seras approached the only man who had made it through all three tests. His face snapped up at the sound of his name, then flinched away a moment, only to return when he saw none of what he had seen before in her face.

"Not bad, not bad at all, commander."

"C-commander? But…I don't have any command experience!"

"You'll get the hang of it quickly enough, I'm sure. Now..."

"Sir?"

"Nothing. Now hurry along."

Turning on her heel, Seras walked out of the room and as far as she could before doubling over in laughter.

* * *

"So what do you make of the newest group, Captain?" 

Seras stood next to Sir Integra, overlooking the obstacle course the trainees were moving through.

"Not half-bad. One in particular…"

"Yes?"

"I think…he has…potential."

"Oh?"

Sir Hellsing stared at the vampire before her, who was looking out over the railing above the finish line. The first group to go through her test had just finished, their average score far above the abysmal marks the other squads had received. She looked down at the young man, practically still a teenager, which held Seras' attention. Although she caught the polish on his movements that came with professional training, he otherwise didn't seem remarkable in any particular way. Integra nodded to Seras, and watched as she made her way done to the trainees to review their performance. She turned back to her waiting paperwork, the one thing next to cockroaches that was still around after the mini-apocalypse.

"Well get used to it, _Police Boy!"_

Integra paused as the words floated over, then simply shook her head and smirked as she headed back inside.


End file.
